How Small Questions can Make Big Changes?

Almost everyone on our planet is looking for answers at some point in life and in most of the cases, we forget a simple rule which says: Make the right questions. Answers are important, but questions may be more important. When we notice a social problem like a girl that is denied the right of education we want to know why and even to help because it is not an isolated case, but it is part of a global phenomenon. This is also the reason why the Sustainable Development Goals are global. They’re a worldwide call to end problems and to ensure that all people live in peace and harmony.
Therefore, when we can’t find answers, we can try to ask different questions. In the case of girls being denied the right of education, SDG 5: Gender Equality, it is important to make core questions in order to find the roots of the problem and how to tackle it.
In general, girls are denied the right of education because of household or community level barriers such as the cost of education, child labor, traditional or religious beliefs, gender stereotypes, child marriage, health concerns, living in post-conflictual areas, long distance between the school and home, poor curriculum, etc. When you find the root of the problem, you can continue to next steps that translate into strategies and interventions that help to empower girls and to improve the social status of women and girls.

Asking the right questions is simple, start small

Here’s another example that can be related to the SDGs 13, 14, and 15.

Does anyone collect waste in the place where you live? Can you recycle plastics in your hometown? If yes, do you know if your trash and plastics will be stored and disposed of safely in a proper facility? Have you ever visited the site where your waste is transferred? Do you know what happens to all the trash that the dump truck picks up every day or week? If you do not know the answers, it’s time to search for them and take action in case you don’t like what you discover.

The next questions are related to the SDGs 1 and 2 because poverty is the cause of food shortage and vice-versa.

Did you have breakfast today? Do you think there’s a difference between the quality and the quantity of food? Do you ever go to bed hungry because there was no food in your house? Do you know kids that have a smaller body size for their age? Do people in your city or community have land where to grow food? According to you, what is the cause of food shortage in your country?

When you start asking questions you begin to understand what the next step may be. There is no formula that works the same all around the world because everything depends on given circumstances and contexts. This is the reason why one entrepreneurial idea is successful in one community, but it doesn’t work in another city somewhere else in the world.

One of the things that we try to teach you at the Entrepreneurship Campus is the importance of being flexible. You can learn key concepts on how to see potential and solutions where others see only a problem. Thanks to our free training courses you can gain the mindset that nurtures your vision of social entrepreneurship. You can also be part of the global network of young entrepreneurs that have already tried to make a change in their ideas and projects. You should never underestimate the power of networking because it provides you numerous opportunities and experience.
You should also know that when you submit a project or an idea to the Youth Citizen Entrepreneurship Competition, you can inspire many other people that face the same problem.
Young people have the motivation, energy, and commitment to change the world. You must try to make a difference.

Photo Credit: pixabay.com